ABSTRACT
Rarely in human history has any institution emerged as quickly as management or had as great an impact so fast. In less than 150 years, management has transformed the social and economic fabric of the world's developed countries. Eighty years ago, on the threshold of World War I, a few thinkers were just becoming aware of management's existence. But few people even in the most advanced countries had anything to do with 'management'. Modern management and modern enterprise could not exist without the knowledge base that developed societies have built. But equally it is management, and management alone, that makes effective all this knowledge and these knowledgeable people. One important advance in the discipline and practice of management is that both now embrace entrepreneurship and innovation. Management is thus what tradition used to call a liberal art: 'liberal' because it deals with the fundamentals of knowledge, self-knowledge, wisdom, and leadership; 'art' because it is practice and application.
